UTR Pro Match Series Opening in West Palm Beach

The 2020 (Re) Open Tour continues this weekend in Palm Beach County, with women’s tennis taking center stage.

Kicking off today (Friday) at noon, the three-day UTR Pro Match series event will take place on a private West Palm Beach court, involving Aventura resident Amanda Anisimova (No. 28 in the world rankings), Danielle Collins (No. 51) of St. Petersburg, fellow American Alison Riske (No. 19) and Australian Ajla Tomljanovic (No. 56)

It’s the first professional women’s tennis event since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in mid-March and comes two weeks after Delray Beach’s Reilly Opelka won the inaugural (Re) Open Tour event, besting three other male players.

Like the men’s tournament, the women are playing a round-robin tournament with a Fast4 set format (first to four games with no-advantage scoring and a sudden-death tiebreaker of first to seven points) during Friday and Saturday’s matches. The final will take place on Sunday, where the two top finishers will play two full sets with a 10-point tiebreaker determining the winner in the case of a split.

The schedule is subject to change due to weather.

While all four women are used to the brighter spotlight, this MyUTR non-tour exhibition will represent uncharted waters for the tennis stars. A host of precautionary safety measures are being taken at the event, including daily health assessments, social distancing, separate rest areas, and limited personnel.

Players will also have to retrieve their own balls and towels, and perhaps most unfamiliar will be the lack of any spectators allowed on-site for the tournament.

WTA tour play has been suspended until at least late August. The tournament this weekend presents an opportunity for the four women to take a break from, well, taking a break — and each expressed excitement for the chance to knock off a bit of rust in competitive play.

Viewers can tune in via the Tennis Channel or locally on channel CW34 in West Palm Beach, and the event will be broadcast online through tennischannel.com.